summer breaks (possibly ping Muddycat)

Shoots self in foot. Arrrgghhh.

 

Oh, the shame.

 

That'll be *another* Purple Heart to you.

 

It's one of my favorite rides in the world.

Take the 101 North to Santa Barbara. There, you can either go over the
mountain via 154 to Solvang, (a quaint/kitsch Danish community
surrounded by flower fields,) or continue up 101 to Gaviota, where the
highway turns away from the coast. Just past a couple of tunnels, the
1 splits off. If you do a sharp right u-turn at the off-ramp, you come
to a small parking lot. There is a short trail up the hill to a
natural hot spring that was popular with nekkid hippies in the 60's.
Going up the 1, there is a small turnoff to Jalama, a great surf break
and windsurfing spot with a county campground. Continuing up 1, you
come to Lompoc. Between Lompoc and Solvang is Buellton, home of
Anderson's restaurant, famous for split pea soup. Going further up 1
takes you past Vandenberg AFB and its launch pad. 1 winds through
farmland to the town of Guadalupe. Pick a restaurant, any one, and
you'll get some of the best Mexican food in California.
1 joins 101 again at Pismo Beach, then splits again at San Luis Obispo
and heads toward the ocean to Morro Bay. At the South end of Cayucos,
there is a turnoff to Old Creek Road, which is a pretty loop that goes
up the mountain. It's great on a bike and has nice views to the ocean.
It crosses 46 and comes back to the ocean at Cambria via Santa Rosa
Creek Rd. Just North of Cambria is San Simeon, home of the Hearst
Castle. From there, the road hugs the coast with that famous scenery.
Just before Lucia, there is a turnoff to the New Camaldoli Hermitage.
It's perched up on the mountain and it has stunning views. It's a nice
place to get away from the highway, relax, and meditate. They have
guest rooms, but I'm not sure what it takes to stay there. Next is
Esalen, another place for retreats, and famous for new age seminars.
One of the nicest places to stay on 1 is Deetjen's Big Sur Inn, a bit
south of Big Sur. It's a collection of little cottages and is great
for romantic getaways. Then, there's Nepenthe, a cafe and book store,
and Big Sur State Park. The natural scenery on the coast is the big
draw, and Big Sur and Point Lobos are truly stunning. Then you're into
Carmel, Pacific Grove, and Monterey. The Aquarium is the major tourist
attraction, but there is plenty to do and see. During race weekend,
bikes take over on Cannery Row, and it's party central.
Going back South, you can hightail it down the freeway, but it's more
fun to take Carmel Valley Road. That brings you down to Greenfield on
the 101. A few mile South, and you can turn off at King City to go
through Jolon and past Lake Nacimiento to Paso Robles where you're on
the freeway again.

There are many other options, but those are a few to mull over.

 

For a frendly fire incident? Cool.

 

SOP, innit? Ticket home and all that - so long as you don't get caught.

 

Yes... Just agreeing with you.

 

FWIW, that itinerary is tough on a pushbike maybe, but absurdly slow
on a motorcycle. I've hitch-hiked the 3000 miles from Boston to San
Diego more than once in 3 days or less. The 50-50 award is for bikes
who go coast-to-coast in 50 hours or less, and many have done it. That
itinerary is 12 riding days for <1800 miles.

 

In communiqué

These days perhaps. As you presumably know, it was originally done in
1968 on a 305cc Honda, two-up with camping gear, including a 3? day stop
in Bozeman. It also includes the Beartooth pass. Perhaps that's an easy
road today. I don't think the object of that journey was to break any
speed records.

I'm just reading 'Zen and Now' by Mark Richardson who retraced some of
the route on a 1985 Suzuki DR600 in 2008.

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+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Aprilia Shiver Yamaha WR250Z/Supermoto "Old Gimmer's Hillclimber" |
| Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

The road conditions really haven't changed much since then. I'd
forgotten that Pirsig did it on a 305. That he did it 2-up on such a
small bike is a big factor in the short riding days. The biggest
factor, of course, is that Pirsig was an anal-retentive psycho.
Remember that at least one scooter has done the Iron Butt, which is
~11,000 miles in ~10 days. Those guys are a different breed of psycho.

 

I'd imagine that anybody who had done without sleep for ten days would
be a bit psychotic.